True Wealth

True Wealth

What is wealth? Is wealth simply being “richer than everyone else” or is there more to it than that. In America wealth is often seen in celebrities, athletes, and musicians. People that bring in more income than the average person in the world, and because of the surplus in money, have many more possessions than the average person in the world. The dictionary even describes wealth as “much money or property; riches” (Agnes 731). However wealth is truly not this at all. True wealth is being able to live comfortably, having support in life from other, and having a sense of direction in life. Only true wealth will bring happiness along with it.

True wealth is much more than just money, because money does not make someone truly happy. Sure, money can make someone happy to an extent. A person can go out and buy a new house, a new car, new clothes, new appliances, and whatever else money could buy them, but in time their thrill and happiness would die out because these physical possessions will simply not satisfy for a life time. There are plenty of celebrities, athletes and musicians that have all the money they need, and it is obvious that they are not satisfied with their lives, therefore they are not truly wealthy. On the other hand, there are plenty of middle class, even lower class citizens, that although they strive to make more money and gain more in life, know how to be satisfied with what they do have. They have true wealth because they live comfortably, they have a house over their head and food every day, they also have people around them that can get them through and support them throughout extremely difficult times and can be called upon at any moment, and lastly they have a sense of direction in life, they know what they want to accomplish and are not constantly lost and confused. JD Roth states in his book, “Your Money: The Missing Manuel”, “It's easy to believe that having more money is the key to a better life—but it's not. The key to a better life is increased happiness.” (Roth 1). Wealth will not bring a man happiness, only true wealth will.

Living comfortably is having day to day needs met. This can vary slightly from person to person, but generally speaking, someone that has a house over their head, food in front of them on a daily basis, a bed to sleep in, along with some other conveniences are living a comfortable lifestyle. Living a comfortable lifestyle is also doing things in life that are enjoyable to a specific individual. Of course, in life people can not always be doing what they want to do, and enjoy doing all of the time. Giving oneself the opportunity to do things that they enjoy doing, and putting oneself in an environment where they can do things that they enjoy doing can help a person to live comfortably. Living comfortably also has a lot to do with making good choices in life. Making the decisions to not use drugs or over consume alcohol can help a person live a much more comfortable lifestyle because they will feel better and be more healthy. This, in turn, will give them much more energy and clarity and help them be much healthier. Also good time management and avoiding procrastination can help a person live much more comfortably because they will not always have to be stalling for time, and trying to do everything at the last minute. There is a lot that has to do with living comfortably, but when a person is living comfortably, they will find more happiness, thus finding true wealth. However one can not live comfortably all on their own, they must have other people surrounding them and supporting them in their lives.

Some people may argue that true wealth is not at all living comfortably. They may argue that living comfortably for someone could be living under a bridge eating scraps someone throws away. However, no one in their right mind would actually prefer to live under a bridge off of scraps, and be happy doing so, therefore this is not living comfortably at all. Living comfortably is living in a condition where a person is satisfied, which for just about everyone, would be having a roof above, food at the table, and a means of transportation. To argue that someone would be living comfortably in conditions of poverty would be foolish.

Having support from other people in life is also a key component in having true wealth. It is true that nearly no one can not be happy on their own. Life was not meant to be lived alone, secluded from other people, however some people will push other people away in pursuit of money and possessions, in an attempt to make themselves happy, when they are really just doing the opposite. People that have true wealth have other individuals around them to support them, help pick them up when they are down, and enjoy the good times in life together. People that believe they will find happiness by shunning others, and simply looking out for themselves are not headed down the path towards finding true wealth. They might find temporary happiness in this way, but it will not last. They may find America's and the rest of the world's definition of wealth, but this definition really is not true wealth. Life was meant to be enjoyed and lived out with other, and through the companionship of others, true wealth can be found. However even when one is living comfortably, and has the support of others. This is how true wealth can not be achieved without direction.

Some people may argue that true wealth does not need support from other people in life, they may say that wealth can be achieved alone, this may be true, but true wealth can not be achieved without the support and presence of others in life. A person can not truly be happy and have true wealth without others, they may be satisfied for an amount of time, but eventually they will grow lonely, and when they need others to help them through a difficult time, they will have no one to do so. The dictionary may agree support the notion that wealth can be achieved alone, but in reality it can not without the support of others.

True wealth can definitely not be found without a sense of direction in life. It is extremely important to have a sense of direction in life and to strive to reach goals in life. Without a sense of direction, one will never find true wealth because they will not know where they are heading in life and how to get there. It is important to set goals in life such as getting a diploma, getting a certain job, or having a family, and then going out and achieving the goals that were set. On the way to achieving those goals, one will have true wealth because they will at least know where they want to be and where they are headed. A person that has a sense of direction in their life will also know who they are, set rules for themselves in life, and then go out and follow those rules rather than turn back on them often. A sense of direction, along with support from others, and living comfortably is how true wealth should really be defined.

Some may say that a sense of direction has nothing to do with true wealth, but in reality it has everything to do with true wealth. Without a sense of direction, a person will probably not achieve their goals, if they even have goals to begin with, and they will often be lost and confused about what to do with their lives. A person will not live up to his or her potential without a sense of direction because they will settle for much less than they can truly achieve. It takes a sense of direction in order to obtain true wealth.

Living comfortably, having support from others, and having a sense of direction in life, all in coherence with each other, will bring happiness and give a person true wealth. Living comfortably is something that not everyone can say they have, and to those that do, they are truly wealth to be able to say they have a roof over their heads, food to eat, and can pay their bills. A person is also truly wealthy if they can say that they have people that they can turn to when they needs support because one can not have true wealth without having people around them to support them, help them when they are down, and enjoy life with them. True wealth is also not possible without a sense of direction because a sense of direction means everything. Without direction a person will be lost and confused, and will not achieve great things in life. A person is not truly wealthy without a sense of direction in life. A person can not have true wealth without being able to live comfortably, have others surrounding them, and having a sense of direction. Some may argue, but this is the correct definition of true wealth.

Works Cited

Agnes, Michael. Webster's New Compact Office Dictionary. Wiley Publishing Inc., 2003. Print.

Grayling, A C. "Happiness is the measure of true wealth." telegraph April 10, 2011. n. pag. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3557112/Happiness-is-the- measure-of-true-wealth.html

Roth, JD. Get Rich Slowly. O'Reily Media, 2010. http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2010/04/true-wealth.html

Pictures Cited

http://www.turbophoto.com/Neighborhood-Houses-1834.php

http://www.dreamhomedesignusa.com/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8715735/People-choose-money-over-happiness.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lumaxart/2137737248/

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/sense_of_direction.asp

http://www.site.uottawa.ca/~flocchin/csi4900pro.html

What is Happiness

What is Happiness?

Hap•pi•ness: the quality or state of being happy, good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy. All humans on earth are in pursuit of happiness, whether it is through their family, there financial well-being, or with the one person they love. The definition of happiness varies from different people or even from the dictionary term, but what really defines happiness? Happiness is a feeling expressed with intangible things, because there is self actualization, control of your life, developing a warm relationship with someone. These three things are bound to lead you to the path of happiness.

Happiness is defined to be a feeling expressed with intangible things. Intangible things are like feelings, you cannot buy a bottle of love or bottle happiness, and this is something that can only be shared with living items. So in order to achieve happiness you must self actualize. In an article called “Hierarchy of Needs the Five Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs” by Kendra Cherry states that “Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others and interested fulfilling their potential.”(cherry1) If you are self aware of what you do and concerned in your success in something, you are most likely to be successful, then you become happy.

Another way happiness is defined is having control over your life. Being in control means that you can make things go your way no way. Many people would like it if they can control what happens in their life. There are some things in life where you cannot control such as a death, losing a job or suffering from an unfortunate event. Even though you cannot control those things you can control how you react to the situation. If there is a death in a family, instead of mopping around and saying that it was your entire fault, you should control your emotion and be happy that you got spend time with them. Instead of crying over losing a job, go find another one. By controlling these things you can control if your happy or not.

Having warm relationship with someone can in fact add to happiness. In an article called “10 things science says will make you happy,” by Jen Angel states “Happier people tend to have good families, friends, and supportive relationships.”(Jen 3) A warm relationship means a supportive relationship, someone you can have by your side through thick or thin. Supportive relationship can help you go through whatever smoothly.
In contrary being single and having no warm relationship with someone can make life a little more difficult than usual. A study was conducted at Cornell University measuring the well being of people who are in a relationship versus someone who is not. “The study of measures of well-being and happiness found that people who cohabit are next on the scale of happiness, followed by those in steady relationships and then those in casual relationships. Unpartnered people report the lowest levels of well-being.”(Committed relationship increases happiness) There are studies that show the being a warm relationship have more happiness than someone who does not have one.

Some may argue that happiness is not defined by those three things. Being happy can fall into the category of having money, being single, and being surrounded by tangible items. The phrase “money can buy happiness,” does have some truth to happiness. Yes, you bought something that you really wanted so for a moment you are happy. For that little moment, it cannot last any longer than a couple minutes. So how much do you have to buy in order to be happy? Therefore money cannot buy happiness, money can buy you things that you are satisfied with, but you are not truly happy overall. Similarly, being surrounded by tangible adds to the phrase: money can buy happiness. When you buy what you want, you have it around you; people tend to replace that with their family or friends. That is why having tangible items do not create happiness, it creates satisfaction till someone realizes that this cannot give you happiness.

Another reason that does not add to happiness is being single. As what was stated about what the true definition of what happiness is, being single does not add to happiness. Some may say that they do not need anyone to make them happy, but in truth that does not makes sense. There is a norm in society that when you marry someone, you are bound to happy with them that’s why parents push their kids to get married in order to be happier with their spouse. If being with someone or having a warm relationship with them means happiness, then being single and having no warm relationship means being unhappy. Therefore being single does not make you happy, being in a warm relationship with someone does.

The search for happiness can also be detrimental to finding it. When someone wants something and keeps forcing it then they will not get what they want. As Dalai Lama said in an article called “Opening up to happiness,” by Mark Epstein states “But, as the Dalai Lama always emphasizes, happiness is not a hobby, nor is it a trivial pursuit. It is a fundamental drive as basic as those of sex or aggression.”(Epstein 1) A lot of happiness is based on religion; if Dalai Lama found his eternal peace why not take this quote to the heart. Finding happiness is not something that is in a bottle, like what was stated already happiness is not a feeling that can be found in a bottle it is something that must be expressed. Therefore someone who search for happiness constantly will not find it, you have to let it come to you before you can feel this emotion.

All in all, happiness is a feeling expressed with intangible things, because there is self actualization, control of your life, developing a warm relationship with someone. All other definitions of happiness should not even be considered because it will have some points like having money will make you happy; being single or even searching for it will make you unhappy. Happiness is something that must be felt, something that you must feel within not something you can carry in your purse. Just like in a YouTube video of Charlie brown the movie Happiness is a warm blanket trailer; Linus learns to break his habit of carrying around his blanket. “Growing up means stepping up to what makes you happy.”(youtube trailer) If Linus learns to be happy without his blanket, he will be happy. Therefore Happiness is not in a bottle, and cannot be found anywhere it is something you will feel with someone else, being successful by being aware of your personal growth and controlling what make you happy or unhappy.
 
Work Cited
"Dictionary.coom." N.p., 2011. Web. 16 Oct 2011. .
Epstein, Mark. "Opening Up to happiness." Psychology Today. N.p., 01/13/2011. Web. 16 Oct 2011. .
cherry, kendra. "Heirchy of Needs." about.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct 2011. .
"Keep your heart smiling." Committed relationship inreases happiness. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct 2011. .
Happiness is a Blanket. youtube, Film. .

Image cited
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=happiness&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=665&tbm=isch&tbnid=byrKM09YiSRiZM:&imgrefurl=http://marilonge.blogspot.com/2011/04/got-happiness.html&docid=fSupAn_QAYerfM&imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4aWezrVzGggoOfrhwgmbZU_FrBE1OTs5ffY6JUViFeCh98SBXZvGd8iUHo6l0spHRc9dMfeD6Kv3o8RRqHXW00feuVFO3ZMe_26yxkUpFkllfFlG8ctG7kBnsqOl0aY5rDw_BNwne4d4/s400/happiness_is_a_warm_puppy.jpg&w=400&h=386&ei=tRueTqy-LoKfiQLZsJ3gCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=460&vpy=319&dur=335&hovh=221&hovw=229&tx=137&ty=137&sig=109400141899375366078&page=10&tbnh=135&tbnw=131&start=182&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:182

http://www.littlemummy.com/2009/11/16/what-motivates-us/

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=happiness&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=665&tbm=isch&tbnid=3kNmOHnHnwNfvM:&imgrefurl=http://www.vuvan.com/&docid=r8DlmW3pIDYGhM&imgurl=http://www.vuvan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/delivering-happiness.jpg&w=397&h=600&ei=UTOeTvPVBuaViAKm8pWWCg&zoom=1